And like a pale corn into freshly turned ground, the stars filled the sky. It was the promise of life in the darkness, a sense of warmth springing from the cold. It was a vastness to bring humbleness and an eternal space to bring gratitude for the coziness of home.

"My love..."

A smile automatically curved in my lips when I heard that sweet voice of my mother, I turned to look at her. I'm still feeling like a kid that needs so much from her.

"Belated happy birthday..." she smiled at me.
Chiara Paula Santa de Leones is still as elegant as ever. Her blonde hair was neatly combed and pulled back. The black silk jumpsuit she's wearing compliments her skin really well.

"Mommy, I miss you..." I went to hug her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Why are you here, darling? Let's go down, nasa baba ang mga pinsan mo." She caressed my shoulder and pulled me off the balcony. "Reid is already here-"

"Reid?!" My eyes widened. "Really? He's home? Until when?"

"Yeah, he's with Ethan, Rance and Daniel. Bukas din ay babalik sila ng Texas, they just don't wanna miss your birthday."

"Romee's birthday." Pagtatama ko.

"Honey, she's your twin. Making it your birthday too..."

Tipid na lamang akong ngumiti. Nang marating namin ang malawak na bakuran ng aming kabahayan ay agad kaming sinalubong ni daddy, he's holding a glass of brandy and his other hand is inside his pocket.

"Happy birthday, Amanda." He isn't smiling, well I'm used to it.

"Thanks, dad..." Kahit may pagtatampo pa ako sakanya dahil sa narinig ko kahapon, I still went near him to give him a kiss on his cheek.

Nang humiwalay ako rito ay bumaling siyang agad kay mommy, he removed his hand from his pocket to reach for her waist and gathered her.

"How was your flight?" He asked.

"It's okay, Red." Mom said with an amount of contempt.

I tried to hide a smile when dad moved behind mom, resting his arm on her waist. I even caught him kissing the top of her head.

Are they really separating? Couldn't they just stay that way?

Much as I love to watch them that way, I still want to spare them some privacy. So I decided to excuse myself and roam around.

It's just a simple party that they prepared, simpler than last year. Why our eighteenth birthday becomes the headlines of society pages for being grand and extravagant. But tonight, all I see is familiar faces of people greeting me. Mostly relatives and some were family's affiliates.

"Happy birthday, Paris!"

I shrugged off Zach's arm when he placed it above my shoulder. "Zach, it's heavy!"

"Sungit talaga nito." Tulad ng madalas nitong ginagawa saming magpipinsan ay pinisil nito ang isang bahagi ng aking pisngi.

"Zach!" I elbowed him in irritation.

He's a year older than I am, making him twenty now. Yet it seems like the six year-old Zach never left him.

"Hey, Paris..."

I saw Lance walking near us with her squad of three and she's in the middle. On the left is Aika Mendrez and on the other side is Sasa Montezor.

"Have you seen, Romee?" Tanong nito nang makalapit. "Anyway, happy birthday."

Bumati rin sakin ang mga kasama nito.

Lance is the youngest in our family. She's a rotten spoiled brat with two invisible devil thorns in her head. And maybe an invisible tail too.

"She's just somewhere around, Lance." It was Zach who answered.

Someone called me from behind, it was Titanium with his brother Oxygen. Oh, I hate being surrounded with people, I feel like I'm being suffocated but then I can't just push them away. Not when all they wanna do is to greet me a happy birthday.

"Happy birthday, Paris." Titanium said.

Pinakawalan ako ni Zach upang mahalikan ako ni Titanium sa pisngi. Then she turned to Zach and Zach was looking at her.

"Hi, Tami!" Lance caught the attention of everyone, she went near Titanium and held her arm. "What a nice dress! Who's your designer? Come on let's grab some drinks."

Tumaas ang kilay ko habang pinapanuod kung paano akayin ni Lance palayo samin si Titanium. Since when did she become friendly? Lance is a snob, dadalawa lamang ang kaibigan nito. That's because she's not nice to anyone but Romee. Romee is her favorite, hindi siya nakatakas sa kakaibang karismang meron ang kapatid ko.
That's why I'm quite surprised now to see how she greeted Titanium, hindi lang ako ang nabigla. Maging si Oxygen ay nag-mura pa sa harapan ko.

"Tangina, naka-drugs ba yun?" Natatawang binalingan nito si Zach na kumibit lamang ang balikat. Binalingan niya ko, he has a playboy smile plastered in his face. "Happy birthday! Shot na para sikat!"

Inirapan ko naman ito. Oxygen is technically my uncle because his dad is my grandfather's younger brother, but we're all raised as cousins. And since our clan is huge and we're all almost at the same age.

He looks like Kade, lalo pa ngayon that he started dyeing his blonde hair black. Ngunit magkaibang-magkaiba ang ugali ng mga ito.

Kade is Uncle Roy's protege, almost copied everything about him, while Oxygen is Tito Exodus' prodigal son. He's a pain in the ass to his parents, siyang siya ni Zach kaya magkasundong magkasundo ang mga ito.

Iniwanan ko na sila ni Zach nang mag-simula ng mag-usap ang mga ito tungkol sa mga hindi ko naman kilalang tao.

I went to look for my brother, Reid. It may not be obvious but I swear I miss him. Even Zander, whom I had a fleeting childhood crush on. Well, I'm still a girl. I still know how to appreciate people around me, that's normal.

"Reid!" I called him out.

Agad naman itong napalingon sakin, ganoon rin ang kausap nitong si Ethan na agad akong binati.

"Happy birthday, Paris." Ethan kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ethan." Binalingan ko si Reid, he's every inch like my dad. Hindi lang sa itsura kundi pati sa paguugali. "How're you? I missed you!"

"I'm good." He kissed my cheek. "Belated happy birthday."

Imbes na hayaan itong humiwalay ay niyakap ko ito, nakita ko maman ang pag-ngiti ni Ethan bago mag-paalam kay Reid na pupuntahan lamang ang ama nito, he did that to give Reid and I some privacy.

"How're you doing?" He asked.

"Well, I'm okay... but I'm sad." Pag-tatapat ko. "Are they really separating?"

He shrugged, dinala nito sa bibig ang hawak na baso ng brandy. "I don't know."

"What's really going on, Reid? Why are they separating?" I know I sounded frustrated but I don't care because I really am.

"I honestly don't know, Paris."

I don't believe him. Hindi pwedeng wala siyang alam. Kilala ko si Reid, he seldom speaks but I know that there are millions of things hiding in his mind. I know that his thoughts is the monster in his system. I know because just what I've said, he's like dad.

Hindi ko na siya kinulit pa, kinuntento ko na lamang ang sarili ko sa mga maiiksing sagot ni Reid habang kinakamusta ko ang bubay niya sa Texas. His answers were restrained but I respect it, ang mahalaga lang naman sakin ay alam kong maayos ang lagay niya.

He gave me a gift. It's a simple designed gold bracelet, alam kong pareho kami ni Romee. Ganoon naman si Reid, kung mag-bibigay siya samin ng regalo dapat pareho maging ng itsura. Again, just like dad. Si mommy naman laging naka-base sa mga personal naming gusto at hilig ang mga binibigay kaya madalas magkaiba kami ng natatanggap mula rito.

When Daniel together with his girlfriend Spring came over to greet me, Reid excused himself. I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling that Spring isn't really Daniel's girlfriend. Daniel is just so obsessed with her. But then, I'm out of their business.

Nagpaalam rin ako sa mga ito nang maging abala sila matapos lapitan ng ibang kakilala. I shied away from people, ipinirmi ko ang aking sarili sa isang tagong bahagi ng hardin, then memories of last night flooded my head.

Everything was unexpected. Even Aidan himself. I've never imagined myself being needy of something, something I have never felt before. Last night happened in a bliss. And it's something I can't even explain, I don't know if science can.

Just like all of my past birthday parties, I ended up sneaking back to my bedroom. I crossed the hall and walk passed Romee's room.

It was partly open, I can hear her from inside. My forehead knotted when I learned that she's crying.

"Reid, Rance, Ethan and Daniel came home. Siya lang ang hindi. What's wrong with him? Anong ginawa ko sakanya?" Even her voice sounded broken.

I can feel my heart clenched in pain knowing that my twin sister is crying on the night of her birthday. I don't want her sad. If I could only go and embrace her and tell her that everything's gonna be fine, I will. If I could only comfort her, but then I'm not good at it. I don't know how.

Before I could even push the door open, I heard another familiar voice. I know it's Thalia.

"Romromi, wag ka ng umiyak. Hayaan mo na yung kinginang yun! Aba naman, wag mo sirain ang birthday mo oh! Wala kang ginawang masama okay? Bobo lang yun siya! I love you, Romromi. Wag ka ng malungkot."

I took aback, I feel like my limbs weakened. Mabilis kong tinungo ang aking silid, then I just found myself crying in the middle of my bed. My sister have gotten herself a best friend she could lean onto.

I want to be the one who got her back in everything. But then, I guess someone can do it better.

Time flies like an arrow and days raced by. It's been weeks since my birthday and I feel like I'm just passing the days and not living it.

I stared out at the morning sky. Mellow blues and pinks blurred together in a silver mist to create another gorgeous scene. Even if the world is drowning in grief and hardship, the sky remained beautiful. That was the one thing that had kept my hopes up, if the sky remained vivid and powerful, then so could I.

Sunlight filled the sky, pure scattered light. Its hue ambitiously illuminating each crevice of the land. Sparrows chirped an explicit background melody. With breath paused in my lungs, I wished time would halt. The trees shone as if they were wearing golden crowns.

I went back to my room after watching the sunrise, kahit paano'y bumuti ang pakiramdam ko dahil sa magandang tanawin. Though, I'm still not in the mood. I don't feel like attending my classes for today, I somehow wanna spend the whole day resting in my bed, probably be sleeping or channel hopping the flat screen to a food program.

It's weird, I've been having a stomach flu for days now. I've been vomiting every morning and I'm having abdominal cramps, maybe because I'll soon be having my monthly period.

After doing my morning rituals I went downstairs to prepare my own breakfast. I'm home alone with our maids. Dad is in Solidad, bugging mom I guess, since she's staying in the country for some important matters. Romee is, well I don't know where she is but she's not home.

I drink a lot of water. Since drinking tons of water will somehow help if you're having a stomach flu. And then, I prepared my breakfast.

I usually go for a combination of nut butter, banana and chia seed toast or a savory oatmeal with egg and if not a tomato toast with macadamia ricotta early in the morning. I never missed breakfast because it's the most important meal of the day, well if you wanna stay healthy you wouldn't.

But for now, I really think I need a BRAT diet. Bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast for my stomach flu. Because these foods are easy to digest and at the same time contain carbohydrates to replenish nutrients.

Bananas can replace potassium I lose from vomiting, though technically I wasn't really throwing up something. Which is another weird thing about this totally insane stomach flu I'm having.

Kahit tinatamad ay pinilit ko parin ang sarili ko na pumasok, I can't miss a day in school. Lalo pa't malapit na ang Christmas break, that means examinations are coming.

After attending two classes, pakiramdam ko'y lalong tumindi ang pagkahilo ko. Marahil ay sa pag-lalakad ko kanina sa school grounds kung saan naroon ang katirikan ng araw.

I feel like my surroundings are dimming, pakiramdam ko rin nauuhaw ako. What is wrong with me? I just emptied a bottle of five hundred ml of water almost an hour ago causing me to pee twice.

I don't feel like I'm about to have a fever, but I feel so sick.

I walked through the school corridors feeling dizzy. Then I feel like I'm beginning to have a shortage of breath. I am breathing but the air just wont go in, like my lungs are surrounded by metal bands. Next comes the rising panic and the need to get low to the ground.

I suddenly felt cold, beneath my feet the tiled floor felt soft. Not as much as even a firm carpet but not right for fine tiled. I moved to the edge, my jeans brushing against the mildewed wall. I can feel my head throbbing, my eyes moved to the sea of unfamiliar faces.

Pakiramdam ko'y mas lalo lamang akong nahilo, nasapo ko ang aking noo. I went to walk again towards the stairs. My right foot move for the first one. I staggered backward, my mind swirling, my breaths shallows, until I fell in a heap to the floor.

People around me panicked. My vision blurred. Everything became fuzzy, then I saw nothing at all. My consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static. Throughout the inky space my heartbeats pounded loudly, echoing in my ears, alongside fading pleas for help. Feeling in my body drained away until finally all was black.